The Seaman'S Companion
The Seaman's Companion.
fied in heaven! my spirit within me faith,Amen. Lord Jesus, say thou Amen.
THE
SEAMAN'S COMPANION :
Wherein the Mysteries of Providence, relating to SEAMEN, are opened ; their Sins and Dangers discovered ; their Duties prefled, and their several Troubles and Burdens relieved.
In fix practical and suitable SERMONS.
To all Masters, Mariners, and Seamen ; especially such as belong to the Port of Dartmouth, and the Parts adjacent.
SIRS, YOUR ready acceptation of my former labours for you, hath encouraged this second and last endeavourofmine thiswaytoferveyou.
I have for many years been convinced of the great use andneedyou have of the following discourses :
But the motives that quicknedme to their publication at this time,were especially these two :
First, The hand of the Lord hath gone forth with terror against you ; this winter many of your companions are gone down to the bottom.
Such a doleful account ofshipwrecks from every coast, and such sad lamentations as have been heard in almost everymaritimetown, cannot but deeply affect every heart with sorrow and compassion,and hath engaged me in this service for the remnant that is left.
Secondly, The seasonableandprudent care his Majesty hath at this time manifested for the regulation and preservation of yourNewlandtrade, and encouragement of your honest industry therein, hath also provoked me tohaften this defgn, for the regulation of your lives and manners, without which, all external means will fignifybut little to your true prosperity
This little manual contains the sum of your duty in the several parts of your employments, and faithfully discovers the temptations and dangers attending you in them all. Upon which confiderationit is fitly ensituled,The SEAMAN'S COMΡΑΝΙΘΝ .
The Epistle Dedicatory.
AsGodhath cast my lot among you,sohehathinclinedmy heart studiously to promote your welfare.
I have been,by long observation, convinced,that one principal cause of your miscarriages, is the neglect of God inyouroutsets. Didyoupray more, you might expect to prosper better.
Indeed, if that Epicurean doctrine were true, that God concerns not himself about the affairs of this lower world,but leaves all things to be
swayed by the power of natural causes, your neglect of prayer might be more excusable : But, whilst successes and disappointments depend upon his pleasure, it cannot but be the most direct course you can steer to ruin all, to forget and neglect
God in your enter prizes.
To cure this evil, and prevent the manifoldmischiefs that follow it, the firstfermon is designed.
And if the Lordshallbless it to your conviction and reformation,I may then comfortably apply the words of Moses to you,
Deut. xxxiii . 18. " Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out."
You often hear the terrible voice of God in the storms ; and are at your wit's end, not knowing what course to take, nor which waytoturn for safety and comfort: And yet how soon are all those impressions worn off? And those mercies which (whilst new) were so affecting, after a few days become stale and common.
I have, therefore, inthefecondfermon, laboured not only to direct and support you in those straits, but have also endeavoured to fix the sense of those providences upon your hearts, and instruct you how to make due improvements of them, by answering the several aims and designs of them.
It hath been much upon my heart, to what and how many temptations to fin you are exposed in foreign countries, where lawful remedies are absent, alluring objects present, and temptations exceedingly strengthned upon you, by hopes of fecrecyand concealment: And,indeed, for am an, whose heart is notthoroughlyseasonedwith religion, and awedby the fear of God, to converse in such places, and with such company, and not be polluted with their fins, is, upon the, matter, as great a miracle, as for the three children to come out of the fiery furnace without an hair singed, or the smell offireupon their garments.- I have therefore prepared for you the best prefervativefrom these temptations in the thirdfermon, which the Lord make an effectual antidote to your souls against the corruptions that are in the world through lust.
I have frequently observed the mischievous influence that success and prosperity have had upon some of you: How the
God of your mercies hath been forgotten, and his mercies
The Epistle Dedicatory.
made instruments of fin against him : How apt are men to ascribe all to their own wisdom, care and industry, as if God had no hand in it? The fourth sermon therefore leads up your thoughts to the fountain of all your good, and drops many veryfeafonable and necessary cautions upon you, to keep you humble and thankful under prosperity.
And because men will not own God in their success, but sacrifice to their own net ; God often teaches them the evil of it, by sadloffes and disappointments: Yea, disappointments sometimes follow the best of men, and that in the most just and honestemployments.
To caution the former fort, and support the latter,in such a case, I recommend thefifthfermon to your serious consideration, not doubting, if the blessing of God go forth with it, but it may prove a very feasonable and usefuldifcourse toyouinthat condition.
And, lastly, because it is so common for seamen to forget the many mercies they have received in a voyage, when it is over, and God hath brought them to the havens of desire, and among their relations, I have, in the last sermon, instructed them in their duty, and laboured to work in such a sense of mercies upon their hearts, as may engage them toa due and thankful acknowledgmentofGod in all.
You fee, by this brief account, how honest the design is in which I have engaged for you.
But I am sensible, that the management is very defective, it being dispatched in haste, and when my hands were filled with other work, and mybody clogged with many infirmities. But, such as it is, I heartily devote it to the special service of your souls, and remain
Yours, in all Christian service,
JOHN FLAVEL.
DARTMOUTH, Jan. 21. 1675.
VOL. VI..
Ccc
[ 386 ] THE SEAMAN'S FAREWEL.
SERMON.
Acts xxi. 5, 6. And we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed, and when we had taken our leave one ofanotber, we tookJhip, and thy returned home again.
T HIS scripture gives us an account of the manner of Paul's embarkingatTyre, in his voyage for Jerusalem; and therein an excellent pattern for all that go down into the seas, to do business in the great waters.
It is true, his business, in that voyage,was not to get an estate, but to witness to the truths of Jesus Christ, with the hazard of his life.
Manydifcouragements he met with in this voyage, and not the least at Tyre,where he met with certain disciples that said to him, by the Spirit, that he should not goto Jerusalem,though, in that, they followed their own spirit; but he is not to be dissuaded:
Like that noble Roman *, and upon a more noble account, •he judged it neceffarytogo,but not to live.'
The disciples feeinghis unalterable resolution,express their affections to him at parting, by bringing him to the ship,and that with their whole families, wives and children,ver. 5. therein giving him the lastmarkoftheir dear respects.
In this farewel, their Christian affections are mutually manifested by two forts of actions,
Sacred Prayers and in Civil Viz. and Salutations.
1. Prayers ; the best office one Christian can do for another.
As prayer is the best preface,so certainly it is the best close to any business or enjoyment : In which prayer we maynotethe place,posture, and matter or scope.
First, The place ; it was upon the shore, the parting place near to which the ship rode,waiting for Paul: And this was nounusualthingamongthem in those days. Tertullian † tells
* Neceffeest utcom, non ut vivam.
Caesarı † Per omne littus preces ad coelum mittunt.
Tertul. de Jejun.
The Seamen's Farewel.
us,"theyfenttheirprayers to heaven from every shore;" and elsewhere, he calls them, orationes littorales, " shore-prayers."
So customary it was forholymen, inthosedays,to be taken into the ship or boat from their knees, not from the tavern or ale-house.
Secondly, The posture ; " they kneeled down." As all places, so all postures have been used in prayer.
Some have used one posture, and some another; but this is the common and ordinary posture : Knees when they can(as an ingenious author speaks) then they must be bowed.
Thirdly, The matter and scope of the prayer,which though it be not expressed, yet may with great probability be argued from the place and occasion, to be, as Erasmus speaks, Pro faufta navigatione, for a prosperous voyage, and divine protection. He knew to what, and how many hazards of life they are hourly exposed, that border so near unto death, as mariners and passengers at sea do ; and therefore would not commithimselfto the sea,'till firsthehadfolemnlycommitted himselftoGod, whose voice the winds and seas obey : Nor was he willing to take his leave of his dear friends, until he had poured out his heart to God with them, and for them, whose faces he might never see again in this world,and engaged their prayers also for him.
2. As their affections were mutually manifested by this facredaction, prayer ; so by civil ones too, affectionate em braces andfalutations. " When we had taken our leave one
" of another."
Salutations were used amongtheJews,both at their meeting and parting.
This latter consisted in words and gestures ; the usual words were, "The Lord bless you,"
Ruth ii. 4. " Peace be unto thee. Grace be with you," &c.
The gestures were kissing each other. These were kisses which a Cato might give, and a Vestal receive.
In both these, viz. their prayers for, and salutations of, each other, they manifested their Christian affections mutually, but especially by their prayers at parting.
Hence note, Doct. Those that undertake voyages by sea, had need not only to pray earnestly themselves, but also to engage the prayers of other Christians for them.
They that part praying, may hope to meet again rejoicing ; and those designs which are not prefaced with prayer, cannot. wind up with a blessing.
There are two forts of prayer, patedand occasional.
Stated prayer is our converfingwithGod, either publicly, Ccc2
The Seaman's Farewel. privately,or secretly, attheconstantseasonsallotted for it, in the returns of every week and day.
Occasional, is the Christian's address to God at anytime upon extraordinary emergencies, and calls of providence ; or, when we undertake anyfolemn business, (and what more folemnthanthis ?) and then the chief matter and scope ofprayeristobesuitedto the present occasion and design in hand; of this fort is that I am here to speak Now in opening the point, I will shew, (1.) What those special mercies are that seamen should pray for, when they are to undertake a voyage.
(2.) What influence prayer hath upon those mercies, and how it must be qualified for that end.
(3.) What aid and assistance the prayers of other Christians may contribute to the procurement of them.
And then make application of all.
(1.) We will inform the seaman, what those special mercies are, he should earnestly pray for, when he undertakes a voyage.
Andamongstthose mercies to be earnestly requested of God by him, the first and principal is, the pardon off in ; a mercy which must make apart of every prayer,and at this time to be earnestlyfued for.
Guilt is thatJonah in the ship, for whose sake storms, shipwrecks, and ruinpurfue it.
It is said,Psalm cxlviii. 8. " That the stormy winds fulfil God's word." If the word there spoken of, be the word of God's threatening against fin, as some expound it, then the stormy winds, and loftywaves, are God's ferjeants sent outwith commission to arrest sinners upon the sea, his water-bailiffs to execute the threatenings of God upon them in the greatdeeps. Hence thoseexpreffions of scripture,Numb. xxxii. 23. " Be sure your
"finwill find you out ;" andGen. iv. 7. " Sin lieth at the "door." In both which places, the Spirit of God compares a man's guilt to a blood-hound, that pursues and follows upon the scent where-ever a man goes. And indeed our fins are called debts, Matth. vi. 12. Not that we owe them to God, or ought to fin against him ; but metonymically, because as pecuniarydebts oblige him tofufferthathath not where with to pay, and expose him to the danger of ferjeants and bailiffs whereever he shall be found ; so do our fins, in reference to God, who hath reckoned withmanythousands of sinners upon the sea, there arrested them by his winds and waves which he sent
Qut after them, andlaidtheirbodies in the bottom of the sea, and their souls in the bottom of hell. Oh! that is a dismal
The Seaman's Farewel.
storm, that is sent after a man, to drive foul and body to destruction ! with what heart or courage can thatman godown into the deeps, and expose himselfamongtheragingwaves and roaring winds,that knows God hath a controversy with him; and for ought he knows,the next storm maybe sent to hurry himtothejudgment-feat of the great and terrible God ? Certainly, Friends, it is your great concern to get a pardon, and be at peacewithGod; a thing so indispensible,that you cannot have less ; and so comprehensive, that you cannot desire more. Iffin be pardoned, you are safe, you needfearnostorms within, whatever you find without: Butwoetohim that finds at once a raging sea, and a roaring conscience; trouble without, and terror within; ship and hope finking together. You are privy to all the evils and wickedness of your hearts and lives.
You know what treasures ofguiltyou havebeenheaping up all your days ; and think you when distresses and ex-* tremities comeuponyou, conscience will be as quiet and still, as it is now ? No,no, guiltwillfly in your faces then, and stop your mouths. O therefore humble yourselves at the feet of God for all your iniquities ; apply yourselves to the blood of sprinkling; pray, and plead with God for remiflion of fin; withoutwhichyou are in a woeful case to adventure yourselves at sea, to those eminent perils of life.
(2.) Another mercy you are earnestly to pray for is, That the presence of God may go with you,I mean not his general presence, which fills the world; that will be with you, whether you pray for it or no; but his gracious special presence, which was that Moses so earnestlysuedfor inExod. xxxiii. 15.
" If thy presence go not with me, carry us not hence." He and the people were now in a waste howhng wilderness, but bound for Canaan, that earthly paradise ; yet you fee, he chuses rather to be in a wilderness with God,than in aCanaan without him: and no wonder, for this gracious presence of God, as to comfort, is all that a gracious foul hath, or desires to have in this world; and as to security and protection from dangers, it is the only asylum, sanctuary, and refuge in the dayoftrouble. If the presence of God be graciously with us, it willguardtheheart against terror in the most imminent distress, as you fee, Psal. xxiii. 4. " Yea, though I walk thro
" the valley of the shadow of death," (that is, through the mostapparentand imminent dangers of death *), " yet will I * Quamvis infumma mortis ipfius pericula incurram. Gloss
Philol, Sacr.
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" fear no evil, for thou art with me." And indeed there is no room for fear ; for with whomsoever God is in a gracious and special manner present, these three matchless mercies are secured to that man.
First, That God's special providence shall watch over him in all dangers, Psalm xci. 1, and 4. " He shall abide under the " shadow of the Almighty ; he shall cover thee with his
" feathers, and underhiswings shalt thou trust." As the hen gathers her brood under her wings, not only to cherish, but todefendthem from all danger, foGod takes his people under his providentialwings for their security.
Secondly, He appoints for them a guard of angels, whose office is to watch over and minister to them in all their straits.
So we read, Plal. xci. 11. " He shall give his angels charge " over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Many invisible services they do for us.
Luther tells us the angels have two offices, Super i us canere, & inferius vigilare; to sing above, and watch below.
These are as a life-guard to that man with whom the Lord is .
Thirdly, He readily hears their cries inadayofdistress, and is with them to save and deliver them. So ver. 15. "He shall
" calluponme, and I will answer him, I will be with him in " trouble, I will deliver him, and honour him." O what a matchless mercy is this ! how many times, when poor seamen have seen death apparently before their eyes, have they cried, mercy ! mercy ! How ordinary is it for their eyes, on such occasions, to add salt-water, where alas, there was too much before ? But now to have God with you in such an hour of straits, to hear, support, and deliver you ; O you cannot estimate the worth of such a mercy ! Pray therefore, for it is a mercyindispensably necessary for you; andsaytohim, as Moses, " Lord, ifthyprefence may not gowith us, carry us not " hence."
(3.) A third mercy you are specially concerned to beg of God, is, that you may be kept from the temptations to fin you will meet with when you are abroad in the world. The whole world lies in wickedness, 1 John v. 19. Every place, every
employment, every company hath its suares and/temptations attending it : And you know you have corrupt natures, as much disposed to close with temptations, as tinder is to catch fire: So that unless the preventing, restraining, and mortifying grace of God be with you, they will but touch and take.
If there were no devil to tempt you externally; yet suchacor-
The Seaman's Farewel.
Fuptheart meeting with a suitable temptation and occasion, is enough to overcome you ; Jam. i. 14. " Every man is tempt- " ed,when he is drawn away of his own lusts, and enticed."
Alas! you know not what hearts you have till temptations prove them ; and what comfort canyoutake in the success and prosperity of your affairs, be it never so great, if you return with consciences polluted and wounded with fin. He that brings home a pack of fine cloaths, infected with the plague, hath no such great bargain of it, how cheap foeverhe purchased them. O therefore beg earnestly of God,thatyoumay be kept from fin ; pray that you be not led into temptation.
(4.) Pray for divine protection in all the dangers and hazards to which you shall be exposed. You know not how soon your life and estate shall be in jeopardy : This night you may sleep quietly in your cabin, tonorrow you may be tugging at the pump, and the next night take up your lodging upon a cold rock. How smartly doth theapostleJames reprehendthe securityoftrading persons ; Jam. iv. 13, 14. " Go to now, ye that " fay, to-day or to-morrow we willgo into fuchacity,and con- " tinuethere a year, and buy and fell, andgetgain ; whereas
" you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life ? It is even a vapour, that appears for a little time,
" and then vanisheth away." How easily can God dash all your designs, and hopeful projects in one hour! You know you are every moment as near death, as you are nearthewater, which is but a remove of one or two inches. How poor adefence is the strongest ship against the lofty seas, and lurking rocks ? How innumerable are the accidents and contingencies in a voyage, which the most skilful navigator cannot foresee or prevent?
They are, as the Pfalmist speaks, at their wits end, Psalm cvii . 27. But O how secure and safe, amidst all dangers, is thatman whom the Lord takes into his special protection ?
Andhewillnot shutout those that sincerely commit themselves to him : The winds and seas obey his voice ; he can with a word turn the storm into a calm, Psalm cvii. 29. or order means for your preservation, when you seem loft to the eye of sense and reason. I have read ofayoungman, that being in a great storm at sea, was observed to be very chearful, when all the rest was as dead men ; and being asked the reason of his chearfulness, in a case of so much danger ? He replied,
Truly I have no cause to fear, for the pilot of the thip is my father.
O it is an unspeakable comfort when a man
The Seaman's Farewel. hath committedhimselfinto the hands of God, as a Father, and trusted him over all !
(5.) Pray for counsel and direction in all your affairs and undertakings, and lean not to your own underslandings.
" I " know, OLord,(faith the prophet)thatthewayofman is not " in himself, neither is it in him that walks, to direct his
" own steps," Jer. x. 23.
Undertake nothing without asking God's leave, and counsel. How many that have stronger heads than you, have miserably ruined themselves and their designs, by trusting to their own prudence ? " Am an's heart
" (faith Solomon) deviseth his way ; but the Lord directeth " his steps," Prov.xvi. 9. We must still reserve the power of God's providence, faith onet; God would not have us too carnally confident. The Lordcanblast your enter prize, though managed with never somuchwisdom andcontrivance.
You arenotonlyto look to God as the author of success, but as the director and guider of the action.
It is by his conduct and blessing, that all things come to pass. If your designs succeed not, you are presently ready to ascribe it to ill fortune, and fay, you had bad luck;when indeed you ruined ityourselves, in the first moulding of it, by undertaking of it without asking counsel of God: " In all thy ways acknowledge him,"
Prov. iii. 6.
(6.) Pray for success upon your lawful employments and designs, and own it to be from the Lord.
You have an excellent pattern in Abraham's servant,Gen. xxiv. 12. " O Lord " God of Abraham thy servant,sendmegood speedthisday."
He reverences the fovereigntyofprovidence, and acknowledges success to be a flower of the imperial crown of heaven, and the bridle that God hathuponthe reasonable creature, to dispose of the success of human affairs. I look on that business or design in a fair and hopeful way to prosper, wherein we have engaged God to be with us, by asking his counsel, and recommending the success to his blessing. These are the mercies you are to pray for.
Secondly, Next I will shew you what influence prayer hath into those mercies you are to pray for; and it hath much everyway.
To be short, it hath a threefold influence into them.
+ Man ton on Jude.
It is a robbery to use goods without the owner's leave. We forget to bid ourselves good speed, whrenwedo not acknowledge God'sdominion. This is but a piece of religions manners .
The Seaman's Farewel.
(1.) It is a proper and effectual means to obtain and procure them.
God will have every thing fetched out by prayer, Ezek. xxxvi. 37. "I will yet for this be inquiredofbythe house
" of Israel, to doit for them." God gives not our mercies for prayers, nor will he give them without our prayers.
This is the stated method in which our mercies are conveyed to us ; and therein the wisdom and goodness of God are eminently discovered. His wisdom in making us to see the author of every mercy in the way of receiving it, and securing his own glory in the dispensing ofeverymercy: His goodness to us, in fweetening every mercy this way to us, and raising its value in our estimation.
Prayer coming between our wants and supplies is a singular means to raise the price of mercies with us, and engage us to due improvements of them.
So that it is an idle pretence for any to fay, God knows our wants, whether we pray or no ; and if mercies be decreed for us, we shall have them, though we ask them not: for though God knows our wants, yet he will have us know them too, and sensibly to feel the need of mercy. And though prayer be altogether needless to his information, yet it is very necessary to testify our submission : And though it is true, if God have decreed mercy for us, we shall have it; yet it is not true, that therefore we need not to pray for it: For decrees exclude not the second means, nor render the creatures duty unnecessary. "I " know the thoughts, that I think towards you, faith the Lord,
" thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected " end. Then shallye call upon me, an dye shall go and pray
" unto me, and I willhearkenuntoyou," Jer. xxix. 11,12.
So that it is plain, mercies must be expected in the way of prayer,that being God's appointed way, and stated method in the difpenfingofthem.
(2.)As prayer hath influence into the procuringofourmercies, so it hath a singular influence into the sweetening of them : no mercies so sweet as those that are received upon the knee.
There is a twofold sweetness men taste in their earthly enjoyments : one is natural, and that those that never eye God in them, may relish as much as others ; the other is spiritual, and supernatural, resulting from the consideration of the way in which, and the end for which they are given: and I am confident, such is the refreshing sweetness of mercies coming in the way of prayer, that they derive a thousand times more sweetness from the channel through which they come, than they have in their own natures. So that it was rightly observed by
VOL . VI.
Ddd
The Seaman's Farewel. him that said, A believer tastes more sweetness in the con • monbreadhe eats at his own table, than another can do in the confecratedbread he eats at the Lord's table.' And then,
(3.) Prayer hath afanctifying influence upon all our eujoyments, and therefore no wonder itmakesthem so sweet: what you obtain this way,you obtain with ableffing, and that is the sweetest and best part of any enjoyment.
So you find, 1Tim. iv. 5. every creature is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. One mercy of this kindisbetterthan ten thousand promifcuously dispensed in the way of common providence : by these no man knows love or hatred ; but these surely come from God's love to us, and end in the increase of our lovetohim. So that you fee prayer hath a manifold influence upon our mercies : But it is not any kind of prayer that doth thus procure, sweeten and sanctify our mercies to us : some mens prayers rather obstruct than farther their mercies ; but if it be theferventprayer ofa righteous man, directed by the rule of the word, to the glory of God, we mayfayoffuch prayer, as David said of Saul's sword,and Jonathan's bow, it never returns empty*.
Thirdly, I shall fhew what aid and assistance the prayers of others may give to the procurement of the mercies we desire; for you fee this instance in the text, it was the unitedjointprayers of the disciples with Paul, that on this occasion was judged necessary.
Now considering prayer according to its use, and end, as a means of obtaining mercy from the Lord; the more disposed, apt, and vigorous the means are, the morefurely and easily the mercies areobtainedwhichwe pray for.
There maybe much zeal, fervency, and strength in the prayer of a single faint : Jacob alone may wrestle with God, and as a prince prevail ; but much more in the joint united force of many Jacobs. Visimita fort i or; if one can do much, many can do more. O what may not a blessed combination of holy and humble spirits obtain from the Lord! If one man's heart be dead and out of tune, another'smay be lively and full of affection. Besides,God delights in those acts of mercy most, by which many are refreshed and comforted ; and where there is a common stock of prayers going, like a common adventure in one ship, there the return of prayer, like the return of such a ship, makes many glad hearts. Certainly it is of great advantage for the people of God, to engage as many as they can toprayforthem. When Dani- * If the good ask good, it isa good manner, and foragoodend.
The Seaman's Farewel.
elwastoobtain that secret from the God of heaven,Dan. ii. 17, 18. he makes use of his three friends to improve their acquaintancewithGod, and interest in God for him upon that occasion.
" Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing " known to Hananiah, Mishael, andAzariah his companions,
" that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven con- " cerning this secret." Some Christians have greater intimacieswith God than others, they are special favourites in the court of heaven ; and what an advantage it is to be upon their hearts, when they are with God, judge ye.
I remember St.
Bernard having spoken of the due frames and tempers that Christians should strive to work their hearts into, when they are engaged in this work of prayer, concludes with this request,
Etquum talisfueris, memento mei. And when thy heart (faith he) is in this temper, then remember me . Oh ! it is a singular mercy to be interested in their prayers that are in special favour with God ! It is true, Jesus Christ is the great favourite, for whose sake all prayers are heard : and without his intercession, the interceffions of an Abraham, a Moses, a Jacob, signify nothing ; but in the virtue of his interceffion, the interceffions of others maybe singularly advantageous to us. Job'sfriends weregoodmen, butyetthey must go to Job, and get his prayers for them, before God would be in treated for them, Job xlii. 8.
And,indeed, upon the contrary, it isa sad signthatGodde. signs not to give us that mercy which he takes offourownheart, or the hearts of others from praying for. When he faith, Pray not for such a man, or for such a mercy for him, the case then becomes hopeless, the mercy is set, and there is no moving it,
Jer. xiv. 11. But if once a spirit of prayer be poured upon you, and upon others too in your behalf, you may look upon the mercy as even at the door, and count it as good as if it were in your hand. And thus you fee what the mercies are you should pray for ; what influence prayer hath upon them; and what assistance the prayers of other Christians may contribute to the obtaining of them; that so your hearts may be excited and encouraged, not only to pray for yourselves, but to engage as many as you can to feekthe Lord for you, as you fee Paul here did,when he was undertaking hisdangerousvoyage.
In the next place I shall apply it.
Use 1. And, first, This may serve sharply to reprove the generality of our seamen, who mind everything necessary to their voyage, except prayer, the principalthing ; who goout in voyDdd2 i
The Seaman's Farewel. ages without asking God's leave or blessing. And here three forts of persons fall under conviction, and just rebuke.
First, Such as do but mock God, and delude themselves by heartless, dead and empty formalities. Some there be that dare not altogether flight and neglect prayers, butproforma, they will do fomethingthemselves ; anditmaybeas a compliment, or, at most, as a customary thing, will desire the prayers of others: but, alas! there is no heartiness or sincerity in these things ; they are no way affected with the sense of their own wants, fins, or dangers ; they never understood the use, nature, orendofprayer. We blame theblindPapifts,and that justly, for their blind devotions,whoreckontheirprayers by number, and not by weight; and truly,there is but littledifferencebebetween theirs, and some of ourdevotions.
It is † StAugustine's counsel, "Do you learn to have in yourur hearts what 66 every one hath in his lips." O thatyouwould once learn to be in earnestwithGod! to pray as men that understand with whomyouhaveto do; and what great things you have to transact with God! ah, my friends,you may believe it, that i fever you had felt the weight offinupon your consciences, and had hadfuch sick days and nights or it, as some have had,you would not ask a pardon so coldly and indifferently as you do.
If you did but know the benefit of God'sprefence with you in troubles, how sweet it is ; or could but apprehend how terrible a thing it is to be left of God, as Saul was, in the day of distress, you would weep and make fupplication for his gracious presence to go forth with you ; and would say, with Moses, " If thy
" presence may not go with me, then carry me not hence."
But, alas ! these things appear not to you in their reality and importance. And hence is all that wretched formality and deadness of spirit.
Secondly, It rebukes much more such as wholly flight and neglect prayer, as a useless and vain thing; who undertakedefigns without prayer, not at all acknowledging God in any of their ways. And it is justly to be suspected, there are multitudes of such practical atheists among seamen, as well as other orders of men.
Poor men! my heart mourneth over you ; you are certainly a forlorn set of men, who live without God in the world.
It was anciently said, "he that would learn to " pray, let him go to sea $:" But now,how long may a man
+ Difcite habere in corde,quam omnis homo habet in lingua.
Aug. in Pl. 32.
Qui nefcit a rare, discat navigare.
The Seaman's Farewel.
beat sea, beforehehear a praying seaman! Let your families from which you part, witness whatconfcience you have made to seek God, as you have been here directed, before your outset: it is said, Deut. xxxiii. 18. to the tribe of seamen,"Re
" joice, Zebulun,in thy going out." But in this cafewemay invert the words, and say, Mourn, O yefeamen, in your going out. How deplorable a case is this ? Let your cabins witness what conscience you make of the dutyofprayer : you can talk and sleep there, butwhendidyou pray there ? You there hear the voice of God in the roaring seas ; but when did God hear your voice in prayer ? You seethe wonders of God in the deeps, wonders of creation, and wonders of preservation ; but mean time you yourselves are the greatest wonders that are to be seen in the sea: men immediately depending upon God for their lives, liberties, and estates, every moment, and not once owning or acknowledging him by prayer.
The very * Heathens will rise up in judgment against you, and condemn you.
I remember Plato brings in Alcibiades asking Socrates,How he ought to express his resolution and purposes ? To whom he thus answereth; " Before every un- " dertaking thou must say, If God will." And we know the eastern nations would undertake nothing of moment, without first acknowledging God by prayer. The Greeks σὺν Θεω, by the leave or blessing of God, is known to all. The Turks will condemn fuchas you are, for they fail not to pray five times a day, how urgent soever their business be.
The blind and superstitious Papists willcondemnyou,withwhomitis a proverb, Mass and meat hinder noman. Oh! whither will you turn ?
And who shall comfort you,when trouble comes upon you ?
Wonder not at crosses and disappointments in your business; how can you expect it should be otherwise, as long as God is neglected, yea, disowned ? Say not, this is the fruit ofillluck, but of your profane neglects.
If the success of all your business depends upon God (as none but Atheists dare deny) then certainly the directest and readieft course a man can take to destroy all, is to disengage God bya sinful neglect of him.
The mostcompendiousway to ruin, is to forget God, and cast off prayer. "Pour out thy fury (faith the prophet) upon the hea- " then that know thee not,and upon the families that call not
" uponthyname," Jer. x. 25. Willnothingless than extremity make you cry to God? Wonder not then, if God bring you
* Αλλά πως χρη γελειν, cui refpondet. Socrates. Οτι εαν Θεος εθέλης Plato inTimeo.
The Seaman's Farewel. unto that extremity which your profaneness makes necessary for your awakening.
Thirdly and lastly, How much sadder,and more deplorable, is thecafeofthose that not onlyneglectto call upon the name of Godbyprayer,but do also woundhisnamethrough and through by their cursed oaths andblafphemies ? who instead of going onboardpraying, asPaulhere did,goonboard cursing, swearing,andblafpheming his great and dreadful name; not going from their bended knees, but drunken ale-benches, to the ship.
Othe admirable patience of God! O the power of his longfuffering! that ever that ship should swim one hour above water,that carries such loads of fin andguiltwithin it ! It is noted inGen. iv. 26. in the days ofSeth, " That thenmenbegan to " call upon the name of the Lord."
Some translate ארקל the word invocation, or prayer, and some profanation ; thenbeganprofaneness in calling upon the name of the Lord.
In a mournful feeling of this dish on our done to God by it, Seth calls the son that was born to him in those times, Enoch, or Sorrowful.
Sure I am, however the word be here to be translated,there is a vile generationinourdays, that insteadofcalling upon the name of the Lordbyprayer, do call uponitprofanely, rending and tearing that great and terrible name with the languageofhell.
Poorman ! with what hope orencouragementcan those lipsofthine, in the day of thy extremity, cry,Mercy! mercy !that have struck through the sacred name of God so many times with blasphemy ! O that you would lay it to heart ! Othat thisdayGod would set your fins in order before you !
Is this a beginning that promises a comfortable issue ? Do you thus prepare yourselves to meet death and danger ? O my soul! come not thou into their secrets ! O let God rather strike
me perfectly dead whilst I live, than afflict my soul through my ears with these dreadful dialects of the damned.
Use. 2. In the nextplacethis point is exceeding useful, by way ofexhortation, to persuade all men, and particularly seamen, to bemen of prayer ; to imitate that noble pattern in the text, and no longer to live in the neglect of a duty to necessary, so sweet, and so beneficial to them, as the duty of prayer is.
Othat you did but know the excellency of this duty ! how would you give yourselves unto prayer! As David speaks,
Psalm. cix. 4. Now to perfuadeyoutobe praying men, and no longer to live in the neglect of so excellent a duty, I will offer these motives to your consideration.
Motive 1. God hathstiled himself a God hearing prayer